Prelim Finals – 2nd XI

The 2nd XI have advanced to the Grand Final after a stirring win at Brighton Beach Oval on the weekend.

Plenty Valley won the toss and elected to bat on a wonderful batting surface at BBO. After leaking runs early we managed to stem the flow and take 3/1 after the first drinks break leaving Plenty Valley 4/68. With 2 of their better bats at the crease, Plenty Valley moved on swiftly remaining 4 down at the tea break and were looking ominous after the break at 4/175 with 30 overs remaining. But with another twist in the days play, on the back of some impressive bowling from Jack Rutter (4/41 from 18 overs), we managed to take the last 6 wickets for 56 runs dismissing Plenty Valley for 231. With 6 overs to bat in the evening we finished the day 1/15 with a big job ahead of us the following day.

Losing a second wicket early on day 2, still more than 200 in arrears, Stu Fairley (78) and Harry O’Brien (55) put on a massive 135 run partnership putting the game firmly in our favour. However 2 quick wickets sent a few shockwaves through the team, but some middle order consolidation and a mature knock from David Salter (39*) saw us home with a few overs to spare passing the Plenty Valley total 6 down and into our 5th grand final in the past 10 years.